How Can I Access HTTPS Sites with Invalid Certificates Using WebRequest?

Accessing HTTPS Encrypted Sites with WebRequest

Problem:

In a program that retrieves content from user-provided URLs, an attempt to access HTTPS-encrypted content fails, resulting in an error.

Solution:

The problem arises from the default behavior of WebRequest, which validates SSL certificates and rejects connections to sites with invalid certificates. To allow your code to access HTTPS-encrypted content, regardless of certificate validity, you can disable certificate validation by using the following code before making the web request:

ServicePointManager.ServerCertificateValidationCallback = new System.Net.Security.RemoteCertificateValidationCallback(AcceptAllCertifications);

Definition of AcceptAllCertifications:

The AcceptAllCertifications method is defined as follows:

public bool AcceptAllCertifications(object sender, System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.X509Certificate certification, System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.X509Chain chain, System.Net.Security.SslPolicyErrors sslPolicyErrors)
{
    return true;
}

By setting this callback, you instruct WebRequest to accept all certifications, effectively disabling certificate validation. This allows your program to access HTTPS-encrypted content even if the certifications are invalid.

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